SCIENCE

Sale makes ‘Jodi’, a smaller relative of T rex, the ‘second most valuable dinosaur ever sold at auction’, Sotheby’s says A rare skeleton of a Nanotyrannus, a smaller relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex, sold at auction in New York this week for $47.3m, making it one of the world’s most expensive…

Randomised trials of omega-6s do not show an increase in inflammation caused by the fatty acid in the Antiviral series If you’ve been online lately, you’ve probably been bombarded with the discourse about seed oils. Once a completely innocuous food that no one really talked about, they have become…

Calf of Man, Isle of Man: Such is the wealth of Manx fungi, a map is being built to plot it all. We took a special trip as part of that project The bird observatory on the Calf of Man was sulking under a low cloud base as we stepped ashore at South Harbour. The dank mist was perfect for our…

For decades the idea of eugenics has been taboo. Now it is returning in a new commercial guise For a very long time, I dreamed of being cured. I was born in 1981. I learned to walk early enough, but I stumbled and fell more easily than other children. My parents began to worry that something was…

Perimenopause has become a hot topic, with celebrities sharing their experiences and doctors offering tips and advice online. But despite the benefits of growing awareness, a rising number of women are now encountering misinformation about treatments such as HRT. Madeleine Finlay hears from Dr…

As all facets of our lives are optimized, the suffix has become inescapable - and experts predict it’s around to stay Maxxing is not a new concept. Dungeons and Dragons players have been “min-maxing” character stats for years; Will Smith was maxin’ and relaxin’ in the 90s; as far back as the 40s,…

Animal-rights group released video footage that shows distressed baby macaques undergoing lab experiments Footage released by the animal-rights group Peta reveals, for the first time, filmed experiments at the University of Washington’s National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC), in which newborn…

Company imitates reflection of sun from mirrors, prompting pushback from some scientists, environmentalists and California locals Locals in a rural area of California were recently startled to see dazzlingly bright light shining down from nearby mountains at night, illuminating a swathe of the…

Terence Tao teaser time UPDATE: Read the solutions here Today’s puzzle is set by Terence Tao, who may be the world’s most famous mathematician. Tao, aged 51, has been a global phenomenon since the age of ten, when he became the youngest competitor at the International Maths Olympiad, a record he…

This gives the company an advantage in tracking objects in orbit, raising national security concerns and fears of greater control over the space industry The US military has given Elon Musk’s SpaceX access to restricted space tracking data, raising a new round of questions about whether the Trump…

Exclusive: Optical engineering that went into 1,600-year-old Lycurgus Cup has baffled experts for centuries The Romans’ proficiency in the art of glass-making has produced some of the wonders of antiquity, but few of their creations better a 1,600-year-old masterpiece which sits in the British…

An ‘audit’ of the Bureau of Meteorology main dataset for measuring climate change claims it contains ‘widespread errors’. It doesn’t stack up Want to get this in your inbox when it publishes? Sign up for the Clear Air Australia newsletter here Australia’s climate has warmed by more than 1.5C since…

Take a selfie to see how healthy you are: the idea is enticing and this new research is promising. But so many factors have been ignored The idea that a single selfie could predict how long someone with cancer may live sounds like an incredible breakthrough. AI is getting better at spotting…

Trial results represent ‘foundational shift’ in approach to cancer, allowing scientists to harness immune system in more personalised way Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast A personalised mRNA-based melanoma vaccine significantly reduces the risk of cancer recurrence or…

With the climate crisis and diseases threatening one of the world’s most popular fruits, researchers are hoping a breakthrough in breeding techniques could give the Cavendish banana a certain future Love them or loathe them, bananas are one of the world’s most popular fruit . But a combination of…

You Can See Everything, a documentary about the disgraced biotech company founder Elizabeth Holmes, has enjoyed a record-breaking opening in the US. It is a testament to how fascinated we remain by the convicted fraudster, but what is behind the enduring appeal? US technology editor Blake…

The Cali Fund, set up to raise $1bn a year for biodiversity from drug companies, remains near empty Big pharmaceutical companies have been accused of “free-riding on nature”, after a landmark biodiversity fund that invites businesses to put some of their profits back into conservation was left…

You Can See Everything, a documentary about the disgraced health tech company founder Elizabeth Holmes, has enjoyed a record-breaking opening in the US. It is a testament to how fascinated we remain by the convicted fraudster, but what is behind the enduring appeal? US technology editor Blake…

Musk says ‘there’s a lot of merit’ to potential merger that would require approval of 50% of all Tesla shareholders, but declined to elaborate Investors were paying close attention to Tesla ’s third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday afternoon, after chief executive Elon Musk floated the idea of…